Title Voices of the nation : women and public speech in nineteenth-century American literature and culture / Caroline Field Levander

Published New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998

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Description 1 online resource (x, 186 pages) Series Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ; 114 Cambridge studies in American literature and culture ; 114. Contents Introduction : gender, speech, and nineteenth-century American life -- Bawdy talk : the politics of women's public speech in Henry James's The Bostonians and Sarah J. Hale's The lecturess -- "Foul-mouthed women" : disembodiment and public discourse in Herman Melville's Pierre and E.D.E.N Southworth's The fatal marriage -- Incarnate words : nativism, nationalism, and the female body in Maria Monk's Awful disclosures -- Southern oratory and the slavery debate in Caroline Lee Hentz's The planters northern bride and Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the life of a slave girl -- Partners in speech : reforming labor, class, and the working woman's body in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's The silent partner -- "Queer trimmings" : dressing, cross-dressing, and woman's suffrage in Lillie Devereaux Blake's Fettered for life -- Conclusion : women and political activism at the turn into the twentieth century Summary Throughout the nineteenth century, American fiction displayed a fascination with women's speech - describing how women's voices sound and what reactions their speech produces, especially in their male listeners. Closer inspection of these recurring descriptions reveals that they also performed political work that has had a profound - though until now unspecified - impact on American culture. Caroline Leyander illustrates how commentaries on the female voice, propounded by such writers as Henry James, William Dean Howells, and Noah Webster, played a central role in attempts to define and enforce the radical social changes instituted by the emerging bourgeoisie. Levander also shows how nineteenth-century women authors depicted the female voice as a central theme in their novels and how these portrayals affected public speech Notes Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Trinity University Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-180) and index Notes English Print version record Subject American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century American fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism Public speaking for women -- History -- 19th century Public speaking for women in literature. Oratory in literature. Speech in literature. Voice in literature. Women in literature. LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General. American fiction American fiction -- Women authors Oratory in literature Public speaking for women Public speaking for women in literature Speech in literature Voice in literature Women and literature Women in literature Vrouwen. Redenaars. Engagement. Romans. Amerikaans. United States Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book ISBN 0511005733 9780511005732 9780521593748 0521593743 0511582684 9780511582684

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